So you’ve dropped something onto the railway tracks – your hat perhaps?
Umbrella?
Footy scarf?
Bottle of Passion Pop?
‘Caution wet floor’ sign?
‘P’ trap?
Collection of Formplex weatherboard samples?
Well – don’t run across the tracks.
Chase down station staff.
They’ve got a long grabby arm.
Ready to fish it back up.
Footnote
I remember a few years ago a railfan attaching their GoPro camera to the side of a steam train doing the rounds of suburban Melbourne, only for it to fall off and land on the tracks. Presumably they found the camera, because they were able to share the footage. 😛
Another unlucky railfan had a similar experience on a tram tour around Melbourne – holding their mobile phone out the window recording video along the St Kilda light rail the tram brushed past a lineside tree, knocking it out of their grasp and down onto the ballast below.
Moral of the story – use a camera strap!
Given the large number of unstaffed stations around the network, what would one do if they dropped an item onto the tracks at one of these stations. I don’t believe this would qualify as an emergency and use of the ‘Red Button’ at the stations. I dont know there is another way to contact Metro staff though. What other options do people have?
Perhaps posters with a phone hotline and roving staff from nearby staffed stations could be implemented?
Good point – the only thing on their website right now is a generic ‘lost property’ contact.
https://www.metrotrains.com.au/contact-us/
If it lands on the rail and a trains gets to it before it can be retrieved, as once happened to a hat of mine, it may no longer be useful (this may have happened to the umbrella pictured above)!
Is it legal to stick your equipment on a tram or to hang your arm out of the tram whilst it is moving?
I’m guessing there is something buried in the legislation saying you can’t do it.
I like how the related post to this is a picture of a van stuck on tram tracks. I guess bigger stuff gets dropped sometimes.